Photos - Ferry

Fotos from the Olympics - vet check

Travelling home

We left from the show ground after the freestyle on Thursday. We were brought to Kyra where my lorry were standing during the Olympics. We unload our staff and load them into my lorry. We wanted to leave early on Friday morning so we could drive before the morning traffic past London to the ferry. We left from Kyra at 5:00 am. and drove to Dover to the ferry. There were first a problem with our papers and it took us longer to get in to the ferry. It was 9:25 am when we finally got in to our ferry. We arrived in Caleis, France, around 11:00 and started our drive to Germany. We drove first to Retie in Belgium where we took Spirit out for a couple of hours and put him into a stall. He started to drink immediately. We let him walk and eat some gras before we continued driving. From Retie we still drove 4 hours until we reached home. Spirit was happy when he finally got out from the lorry and realised that we came home again. I think we all were happy to be home again and to be able to sleep in our own bed! I want to say thank you to my sponsor Sinituote Oy, Monica and Ilkka Brotherus, from the support they have given me and who made this all possible! I also want to thank my family and my boyfriend Thomas who always have been there for me. A BIG THANK YOU to my team: Marieke Oertel, Hubertus Schmidt, Tuula Pursiainen and Riitta Holopainen. And thank you all who kept the fingers crossed and cheered up for me!

Semifinals

I'm very happy about Tuesday. The all day was just wonderful. I got to wake up early that I could train Spirit once before the competition. He went really well! So I felt confident and relaxed before we started the warm up for our test. Spirit was doing well hole time and I had a good feeling to ride in to the arena. Through the hole test I was able to ride Spirit like in the training and now also the tempis were without mistakes. We got so far our best score from the GPS 71,889% and we were all very happy about that. Unfortunately it was not quite enough for the freestyle but anyway I'm very pleased about my first Olympic games and how they went for me. This was an amazing experience, my dream coming true and now I have to start dreaming of something new! :)

Weekend

Saturday and Sunday we had some time to see the city and do some shopping. I also invited my boyfriend and my parents to the olympic village to see who the life there is. It was nice to send some time together. I also rode Spirit in the morning and he still feels fresh and not tired at all. Tomorrow I'm going to take Spirit out two times just like on Tuesday when the test ist.

Gran Prix the second day

It was exciting for me up to the end. I had to wait the final results to see if I qualified or not. And I did! I can ride the Gran Prix special on Tuesday and I'm more than happy! :) On Friday I just jogged with Spirit and went for hacking so he could have a little time of. Today we start our training again. I have go trough my test with Hubertus just to see what the judges said and where we have to work more. For sure I need to work on the serial changes!

Gran Prix

Wow how amazing it was! Even if we got some mistakes in one and two tempis, I'm happy how Spirit was inside the arena. We had a good warm up and I tried to keep him focused on me and not on the audience and it worked! I'm really happy about the trot and passage tour and also the sicsac in canter and the pirouettes were good for us. The score 70,395% could have been better but with the mistakes I'm still happy that we got over 70%. Now we just need to hope that if that it is enough for the special.

The last day before the competition

Today we got to train on the main arena. We had specific times for each country and all the individuals were put together so they had groups of 4 riders. Each group had 30 minutes to ride inside the arena. First I made a warm up outside and then some movements. When our time came I concentrated to keep Spirit focused on me and work. I'm happy about the result: I could end and leave the arena when my horse was quiet and relaxed. I wanted to give him nice a nice end and good memory.
Tomorrow my starting time will be 14:01 GBT as a 18th horse.

Vet check

I trained Spirit today first in the morning. He was better than the days before. I could ride him now almost like at home. Let see how he is tomorrow when we can ride in the stadium. Today was also the most important day because of the vet check. And both finnish horses were clearly accepted. That means: Let the games begin!

Part 5

Hello hello,

Today we were allowed to ride in the stadium but only for 15 minutes! There were no white fences yet so there were a lot of space to ride around. The stadium was amazing and it is really big! I walked Spirit first and let him look around. Then I did only some posting trot and I was quite happy how he felt. He was not as nervous than yesterday and also more relaxed.
In the afternoon we had our second training time and that was in the warm up arena. There Spirit was also better Danny yesterday but I could still feel some tension in his body. I'm happy that we still have days left before our first start.
The gross-country was today. I walked the hole course and saw the fences. I'm happy that I chose dressage! The course was hard, a lot of up and downhills and some difficult fences. Later I watched the conpeticion and I was interesting to see how the riders manage to ride their horses wisely up till the end. I have to say: it's not easy.

Part 4

I slep today. I have had so less sleep in the last days so I needed to load my batteries. Marieke was taking care of Spirit. She went for a walk with him and then let him eat grass. Our training time was today with 2 other countries, one individual rider each so together there were always 4 riders. Spirit was trough the hole time a bit nervous and didn't relax. We had the arena with a roof but sides were open so the horses could see everything. It was quite windy and the roof made of plastic was making noises which scared him. It's good that we have few more days here before our first competicion that Spirit can get to use to the places and to the stadion.

Part 3

The last two days has been rough and I didn't have good Internet connections at all so that's why I'm late with the third part.
Anyway, on Friday morning YLE (the finnish tv channel) came to Kyra's place to make an interview from me and Mikaela Lindht. That took about 2 hours and after that we took horses out for jogging. I did only posting trot and some canter. I had to make with Spirit some streching after the long trip on day before. It took us 10 hours from Retie, Belgium to Coolham, England! Little bit longen than we thought but that was because of 2 accidents.
Then after our riding we packed our things and they had a car picking up us to the
Olympic village. There was a chance for us to be a part of the opening ceremony.
That night was unforgettable! As I walked in to the stadium with the Finnish team I couldn't be happier! It was a great moment and a wonderful experience for me and I will never forget it!
I got into my room 1:30 a.m and already at 6:30 a.m I needed to wake up again. We drove back to Kyra where I rode my horse lightly and then we started to prepare everything for the transport to the Greenwich Park. We started to load the horses at 3:00 p.m and arrived the equine staging facility just before 5:00 p.m where the truck and all the equipment were x-rased and horses had an health control.
Finally at 6:00 p.m we reached the stables. Spirit got in to his new temporary home and was first a bit nervous. When we had all our stuff and decorations done Spirit got more relax. My groom took him afterwards for a walk and tomorrow we'll start our normal training again.

Part 2

Everything's good so far. We are now on the ferry from Calais to Dover. I rode today in the morning. We did only some light work and then we started the engines again. We drove 260km to Caleis and now it will take 1,5 hours with the ferry to Dover. Then we still have about 2 hours drive to Coolham where Kyra has her stables.
It's a beautiful weather but too hot for the horses to travel. Yesterday it was over +30 when we left home and now it is almost as hot.

London part 1

Today it starts, our trip to London. We have everything ready and packed, I hope! We got feed, the capot, blankets, umbrellas :) and my riding outfit including new helmet! Specially made for the Olympics.
I trained Sini with Hubertus in the morning and he was good. I feel now confident and well prepared for our biggest event so far!
The plan is to leave our stables in the afternoon and drive to belgium where we stay over night. And tomorrow we will continue to Calais where we take the ferry to Dover and then drive to Kyra to wait the transfer to Greenwich park.

I do London!!!

I have been chosen to the finnish team in London! Unbeliavable! I still can't really believe it. All the traveling and competing all over Europe is now worth it. I was hoping so hart that this day would come and now im so happy that there is no words. My dream to represent Finland in Olympic Games is becoming true!

Gran Prix Special

I was the last rider to go in the Gran Prix Special on friday evening. It was a long day to wait. My groom went walking with Sini in the morning and I rode him lightly in the afternoon. I did my warm up like before Gran Prix. Sini felt again relaxed and didn't get tense even if the audience was cheering for the other riders before me. My starting time was 22:21 so it was already dark and the arena had bright lights everywhere. I was still feeling confident as my time to ride in came. The beginning of the test was very good. All the half-passes and passages were good and we got a lot of 8's. In the walk Sini wasn't as relaxed as I hoped and he wanted to look around a bit. The canter was ok, maybe not as good as Sini can do, but there were still some good parts. We got 71,244% and ended up to the 6th place. I'm very happy about the week in Aachen. Sini is getting better and he gets more self-confidence after every show. I'm relief that this time we got 2 equal results and in both tests Sini let me ride him.

Gran Prix

I'm very VERY happy about yesterday! Sini stayed calm as we trotted in to the arena and we had a nice test with one mistake in two tempis. I was very relief after the test and happy with Sini that he stayed focused trough the test. The audience was unbelievable! They were cheering and clapping their hands and it felt wonderful! Thank you all who were supporting me and keeping the thumps up for us! We ended up to the 8th place with 71,043% and so far that is my second best result from the Gran Prix. Today we have a day off and I went already walking with Sini this morning. Later today we will have a training with Hubertus. On Friday we ride the Gran Prix Special which starts at 9:00 pm.

The training with Sini went surprisingly well. First I warmed up on one of the training arenas and went after that to the main arena. There were always 30 minutes planned for each country and Finland was with Switzerland together. I was feeling much comfortable than in Rotterdam and I was able to ride him like at home. Our starting time will be at 7:15 pm. as 13th horse. Together there will be 22 horses.

CHIO Aachen

Hello, Sini Spirit and Marieke travelled already yesterday to Aachen and I came today in the morning with Martina (the groom from Hubertus). I went directly walking with Sini inside the main arena and he was ok. The vet check was after midday and it went also well. Later when Hubertus is also here I will train Sini on the main arena. The Gran Prix is tomorrow starting at 5 pm.

Home again

We came back home from Rotterdam on Sunday. Sini Spirit and Heimliche Liebe travelled well. There were no problems at all. On Monday Sini had a day off. He went walking outside with Marieke, my groom and he also got to eat a lot of gras. In the evening I took Sini out and we did some streching. On Tuesday I worked him light as well. We did a lot of transitions and streching and today we will start again with the collection. We need to get prepared because next week is Aachen and that is our next show. It will be my first time to ride in
Aachen. I'm already excited!

Rotterdam CHIO

Hello! We left from our stables on Tuesday morning. I had Sini Spirit, Heimliche Liebe and my groom with me. It took us 5 hours to get to Rotterdam. There was one accident between and that's why it took us longer to drive than we thought. On that day we had only the vet check for both of the horses and then I trained then in the main arena. At first Sini was fine there but suddenly somebody put the electric commercial on which was on two sides of the arena and it was blinking. Sini got so scared of that and totally panicked. We needed to get out from the arena quickly and went to another arena inside the woods to calm him down. It took me long before Sini got relaxed and we could end our training. I really hope that I don't have to ride the test on the next day because I'm not sure how Sini will react when we go in again.

Sini Spirit Gran Prix

I trained Sini in the morning when the main arena was open. He was unwilling to move as he can. He almost didn't canter at all. I stopped riding and we went back to the stables. Tuula Pursiainen with our vet was checking Sini and found out that he has pain in his stomack. They took care of him and he got better before the Gran Prix started later in the afternoon. My starting time was 17:10 and as we prepared Sini for the warm up, he looked and felt fine. The warm up went well. Sini was calm and concentrated. In the test he got first a bit tense but I was able to ride him trought the test and after the walk he got more relaxed. We got 70,4% and it was enough for the second place! I'm pleased and now I just hope that we can make a nice ride tommorrow in the special.

Donnelly Gran Prix

Today was the Gran Prix for freestyle. I started with Donnelly. It was his first show after our south European journey. He got a bit hot and tense when I rode in to the main arena. And in the first part of the test he cantered 4 times! He cantered after entering, he broke in to the canter in extended trot and also before the first trot half-pass. But the second part of the test was good. We had nice pirouettes and serial changes and also from the zikzac we got two times 8 from the judges. After all we still got 68,38% which was enough for the fourth place. Donnelly qualified for the freestyle on Sunday evening under floodlight. That is going to be exciting!

Wiesbaden

Moi!

Terveiset Wiesbadenista! Hevoset, Sini Spirit, tulivat hoitajani Marieken kanssa jo torstaina, jotta saimme hevosautolle sähköpaikan. Täällä on pieni parkkipaikka ongelma sillä tilaa ei ole tarpeeksi kaikille autoille ja jos tulee liian myöhään ei välttämättä saa enää sähköpaikkaa. Itse saavuin Hubertuksen kyydissä perjantaina puolelta päivin. Kahdelta oli vet check ja sen jälkeen treenasimme hevoset. Ratsastin ensin Sinin ja yllätyksekseni ensimmäinen treeni sujui ihmeen hyvin. Sini oli aika rauhallinen ja keskittyi hyvin tehtäviinsä. Sini menee vasta sunnuntaina ensimmäisen luokkansa, joka on karsinta specialiin.
Sinin jälkeen treenasin Donnellyn joka ensin oli vähän pinkeänä. Donnelly on nyt ensimmäistä kertaa kisoissa sitten Etelä-Euroopan reissumme.
Tänään kävin jo kävelemässä Donnellyn kanssa pääareenalla ja kohta lähden treenaamaan Sinillä. Gran Prix alkaa tänään klo 15:30 ja Donnellyllä starttini on klo 17:00. Luokassa on vain 14 lähtijää.
Olen ensimmäistä kertaa täällä Wiesbadenissa ja tämä on aivan uskomattoman hieno paikka! Eilen kun ratsastin ekaa kertaa verryttely kentälle ja näin kilpailuareenan jonka taustalla kohosi vaaleanpunainen linna, en meinannut uskoa silmiäni. Näkymä oli kuin suoraan sadusta! Lisäksi koko kilpailu alue on puistossa puiden ja ruohokenttien keskellä. Täällä on lisäksi myös kenttäratsastajat joiden kenttärata puikkelehtii joka puolella puistoa.
Ihanaa on myös se, että lisäkseni myös kolme muuta suomalaista on mukana kilpailemassa. Mikaela Lindht, Terhi Stegars ja Henri Ruoste. Viikonlopusta tulee suomalaisittain tosi jännä!

Freestyle

Our day started like yesterday. We were allowed to ride again in the main arena early in the morning. I took Sini out for training. It was colder than yesterday and more windy. Sini was a bit afraid of the V.I.P tent which was moving in the wind but otherwise he did his job well. The freestyle started at 12:15. My starting time was at 13:00. The warm up was not as good as yesterday. Sini was more unsteady on the bit and sometimes hurried. I took my time and he was better when they called us in. Unfortunately Sini got tense when we entered the arena. And it got worse when the audience started to applause. Our freestyle was not as good as I hoped for. There were a lot of mistakes caused by the tension. Half-passes and some passage was good but piaffe and pirouettes wasn't good. We got 70,825% and ended on the 14th place. Now we are home and Sini gets the next week off. Tomorrow we go to Düsseldorf where our physiotherapist checks him and then he gets some nice time jogging und hagging with my groom. I fly on Wednesday to Finland to meet my family. Our next show will be in Wiesbaden in four weeks.

Photos from Hagen

Saturday

I rode Sini already in the morning in the main arena. We were alloved to ride there from 6:45 till 8:15. Sini was much calmer than the days before and we had a good training. Hubertus was also there to help me. Finally I got lucky and got a good starting place. I was in the end of the class just before Totilas. In the warm up Sini was first a little bit unconcentrated and looking around to see everything. There were so many people and noise that I needed to keep him really occupied. Sini felt good when I rode in to the main arena. I was suprised that he stayed so focused despited of the people around the arena. The test went good but in one tempis we had a mistake. When I got to the end and looked up to the live screen and saw my actual procents I couldn't believe it! There was standing 72% and a bit more! I was so happy and later when I heard my score 73,25% I started to cry for a joy! Unbelievable! I did my new record in gran prix and ended to the 7th place in Hagen where there were so many good riders and horses. I'm so proud of Sini!! We also qualified for the freestyle which is tomorrow starting at 12:15.

Horses and dreams meet Great Britain

We arrived today in the afternoon to Hagen. I took 3 horses with me: Sini Spirit, Sini Santos and Fiaro Lacendos. Sini is going the big tour for the freestyle on Saturday, Fiaro goes small tour starting with the prix St. georges tomorrow morning and Santos is there for learning. Today was the vet check for Fiaro and also free training in the main arena. The weather was really unsteady, sometimes sunshine and then suddenly hard rain. I was training with Fiaro when it started to rain and we got so wet that there were water drops falling from my riding helmet in front of my eyes. With other horses I was more luckier and we stayed dry. Fiaro is going tomorrow morning in the beginning of the class.

Olympic games

So, it came out, the list of the riders who qualified as a individuel for Olympics. I'm 6th on the waiting list. It was so close... But still, our federation said that there is still a small chance that some of the countries don't sent their riders and then maybe, MAYBE I will be able to ride in London. But now we just have to keep our fingers crossed and wait till 15th of April. Meanwhile my horses, Sini Spirit and Donnelly, will do something else than dressage for a few weeks. They really earned it!

Vilamoura Portugal fotos

Sunshine Tour 2012 fotos

Finally home!

I flew home already on Friday afternoon but the horses left with Johannsmann early on Saturday morning. My groom Marieke drove with them. They did one over-night stop in south of Germany and finally on Sunday afternoon they arrived home. The horses were surprised to see where they are as they recognized the stables. The horses are well and healthy but now they will have a well earned holiday!

Saturday

In the morning I trained the horses and they feld good. All of them are still feeling fresh which I'm wondering because it has been such a long trip so far. The weather was a bit cooler today. During the night it rained and the morning was also gray. The sun came out first in the afternoon but the temperature didn't rise so high. The freestyle began at 17:20. My starting time with Sini was 19:30. The music was so loud, much louder than I wanted in the sound check,that Sini got scared and was tense trough the hole test. Anyway somehow I managed to rode him and we did all the movements but with tension. I think the judges didn't see it all the time because we still got 73,35%. Tomorrow Donnelly will go the special and Sini will have a small earned break. :)

Vidauban friday

Today was Donnelly's turn. I rode him in the gran Prix for special. Our starting time was 9:18 in the morning. It was still very cold. When we came to the stables it was -2,5 C. Donnelly feld good in the warm up but he got a little bit strong during the test. I was not quite happy about the test. We made one small mistake in siksak and a bigger mistake in one tempis. Our score was 69.4% and third place. Terhi Stegars made a very nice test and got only 1,5 points more than me and she was second. Also Henri Ruoste did well and placed on place 8. We all qualified for the special on Sunday. Sini and Liebe I trained alone because Hubertus flew home already. The freestyle is tomorrow evening and Sini goes at a fourth last horse.

The morning was really cold. In the stables were -5 C and it feld freezing. I started to ride about 10 o'clock. Hubertus came yesterday and we already did light training. Today I started with Donnelly and rode Sini and at last Liebe. All of them went well and Hubertus were happy. Sini had also his Gran Prix today in the afternoon. That's why I rode him in the morning and before the test I did only a short warm up. Sini got a bit tense as we rode in to the arena but calmed down before I started the test. The test began well, we had one mistake in the passage after the first piaffe where Sini suddenly cantered. In two tempis were also had mistakes and the last change after zigzag was late behind. I was very happy about the passage and piaffe and that Sini let me ride him. We got only 68,3% because of the mistakes. We still ended on the second place! Sini qualified for the freestyle which is on Saturday. Donnelly goes the Gran Prix for the special tomorrow early in the morning.

The first night in Vidauban

We arrived in Vidauban about 6.30 p.m on Monday evening. We found our boxes and made them ready for my horses. At first Liebe was really nervous because she couldn't see the other horses. They are all standing in a row next to each other but the walls are closed so they can only see horses on the other side. But we didn't have neighbors yet. We gave the horses water and hay and after a while we took them out for a walk. Later we gave them mash but Liebe didn't start to eat. We took the temperature and it was 38,9. I tried to call the show office, stable manager and the official vet. Nobody answered. Finally the official vet picked up and came out that he is not even here! I couldt believe it! He's coming tomorrow but then it would be too late to help the horse! He promised to sent me another number who might know the number from local vet. We took the temperature again and know it was already 39,5!! Finally I got a number from the vet and she promised to come but se was 1,5h away! Unbelievable... So we just waited and cooled Liebes legs with cold water. At 11.30 p.m the vet came, Liebe got the medicine against fever and got better soon. It was already so late so we decited to stay with the horses and sleep inside the tack box. We rolled blankets around us and tried to sleep.

Vilamoura saturday

Today is our last day in Portugal. I rode Donnelly in GPS and Sini in freestyle. Donnelly lost his shoe again this morning but luckily the farrior was here and could put the shoe on immediately. Donnelly felt good in the warm up but I tried make him a little bit more going for the test and it worked. The test was better than the day before. I was happy with the halv-passes and pirouettes but in one tempis on the center line we made mistakes. The score 70,98% was enough for the first place. Also Sini did a really good freestyle! I'm very very happy. The score 74,75% was my best score so far in international GP freestyle. Sini was second in that class. I'm very proud of my horses! On sunday morning at 4 we wil load the horses and drive 900km to Valencia where we will stay one night and then continue to Vidauban. It's going to be a long trip again.

Vilamoura Gran Prix

The day didn't start very well. In the morning when we took Donnelly out from the box we noticed that he almost pulled a shoe off from his hindleg and then stepped on it. He was a bit sore from the hoof as we took the shoe off. The ferrior came quickly but first we wanted to show to leg to a vet. That took a bit longer. The vet check the leg and said we should put the shoe back and then he'll check Donnelly again. This was only one hour before the class and Donnelly was suppose to go as first. The vet suggest that we talk to the judges that I chance my horses and start with Sini first. It was all okay but then we needed to make Sini ready in 15 minutes.everything went well and I was in time. Sini did a very nice test. There was only one bad chance in one tempis otherwise he did everything well. He got 70,17% and I was more than happy. Donnelly's starting time was later so he got time to rest and get to use to the new shoe. He was the second last horse to go and the fudding was already bab. Too deep in the corners and diagonals with holes. Donnelly had some troubles with the rhythm and was unbalanced. He got only 68,6%. At the end Sini was second and Donnelly fourth so the day got better!

Freestyle

I qualified with Donnelly to the freestyle. I don't have a own freestyle music for him so I borrowed Sini's freestyle. It fits quite good. My starting time was at 13:00. Donnelly felt good already in the warm up. He was a bit more concentrated on me than before the Gran Prix. In the freestyle he cantered once in extended trot and one change was not good. Otherwise I was very happy with him. We scored 73,2% which was enough for the 4th place. It was nice ending for the show. Other horses I jogged that they don't get too stif before the transport.

Saturday

Hey!

I was happy that I could ride Sini one more time inside the white fences after Friday's tension. Today's Gran Prix doens't count for the Olympics but it matters to me. Sini was from the beginning much more relaxed than yesterday and that was a relief. In the test he was first a little bit concerned buy relaxed quite soon. We did a nice test with one mistake in the last piaff but otherwise I was very happy. The score 67,8% was not as good as I expected but it didn't matter. Sini won the class and we got to hear the Finnish national hymn!
With Donnelly I trained some movements and parts from my freestyle. Et voila had one more test where he was second with 65%. This trip is very good to him to learn to be a dressage horse.
Tomorrow is the last day and the freestyle.

Thursday

The Equestricons Et Voila is a 7-year-old gelding, no so experienced so that's why I entered him to the owners tour today. The test was the FEI preliminary test for juniors with halv-passes, counter canter, simply flying chances and 2 flying chances. For the first time Et Voila did very well. He was not spooky or tense but got sometimes a little bit behind the vertical. And one time he chanced behind after extended canter. He scored 67,15% and won that class. Also my other horses Sini, Liebe and Donnelly went really well in the training. I'm excited about the Gran Prix tomorrow and happy to go to sleep now after a long day.

Today was training and the vet check. All 4 horses passed it and are able to compete. I trained them all like normal. I did the collected trot and canter, some half-passes, pirouettes, flying changes and with the GP horses I did also piaffe and passage. They all felt fresh and satisfied. Tomorrow I will ride with Et Voila the FEI test for juniors. Will see how he behaves. I don't know if he has competed a lot but this will be my first time with him. The Gran Prix is on Friday.

Sunday

I couldn't believe it, Sini was again at the beginning of the starting list. He was the second horse. It was the consolation Gran Prix for the horses who didnt qualify fot the special. The class started at 11 o'clock so it was not so cold anymore. From the beginning Sini was loose and relax and he stayed like that through the hole warm up. I was feeling very confident when I rode inside the arena. Sini did good piaff and passage, the hole trot tour was super, the zikzak and two tempis were good. Only in one tempis we made again mistakes. I was really happy after the test and the score 72,6% overwhelmed me. Our best test for a long time. I also rode Heimliche in the same class. I had to make her a little hotter to my leg that she will piaff again in the test. The passage were good and also I got the piaff but the one tempis didn't work out. She got the score 71,38% which was enough for the second place. And Sini won!! So happy that I could jump around and sing hallelujah :) Later in the afternoon was the GP special. Donnelly was the last horse to show. He feld quite good in the warm up. I was alone because Hubertus needed to catch his flight back to Germany. I made too many mistakes, one tempis were broken, in one passage-extended trot transition he cantered and some smaller things. He got 70,5%, still ok but I am little disappointed with the hole test. At the end he got the 4th place. On Monday it's going to be fee. The first testis again on Wednesday. Tomorrow I'm just going to walk the horses and ride few minutes posting trot that they don't get so stif after the hard week.

Gran Prix

Sini was first horse to go at 9 in the morning. It was still very cold and as started to warm up my fingers and toes were already frozen. Sini was also very cold and he was very stif in the beginning. I did posting trot long and slowly we both got warm. Sini started his test quite well. The trot tour were good exept one mistake in the second extended trot. Piaff and passage he did also good. Passage good be better but for the first test it was enough. Then we got to the canter and the mistakes came after one other. Only small mistakes in the flying changes but very expensive ones. And then the last center line with passage and piaff was again really good. The score was 69,02% which I'm still happy about.
Next I started with Donnelly. He's starting time was later in the afternoon. The warm up was good, he felt relax and powerful. In the test I was able to ride him like in the training. We didn't get any big mistakes. There's still much we can make better but for so far it was our best test together. Score 70,57% and at that point we got the first place.
Heimliche Liebe was the last horse in the class. She was a little more tense than the day before maybe because of the strong wind. In inter II she stopped in the piaff so now I tried to put on her more pressure that she will piaff also in the test. It worked and she did 3 times nice piaff and good extensions. She got also really hot in the test but I managed to control her. I was very pleased with her. That was her first Gran Prix ever. We got all surprised when we heard the score: 70,59%! And she won! And I won for the first time DCI Gran Prix!
It was unbelievable to stand in the prizegiving ceremony and listen the national hymn from Finnland. So it was a perfeckt day: Liebe was the first, Donnelly the second and Sini was 6th.
Saturday is a day off. I will train all horses with Hubertus and then on Sunday we compete again.

Hubertus came today and I trained Sini Spirit and Donnelly with him. They felt both much better than yesterday. It was the first day with Donnelly that I could train him almost normal. He still has been recovering from the transport.
Liebe had her first test today. It was Intermediate II. There were some nice parts in the test but both time in piaff she just stopped and the one tempis were not good. It was our second test together and already better than the first one. We scored 65,95% and ended on the 3rd place. It was a nice start for the show. And it got even better because Alexandra Malmström rode her Waterford on to the second place. Finland rules :)
Now I have to go to sleep! I need to wake up early bacause the gran Prix starts at 9:00 and Sini Spirit is the first horse to go.

The day started like everyday so far: breakfast at seven, a half hour later to the stables and breakfast for the horses. During the horses eat we get water, mock out the boxes, take the night bandages off, sweap and then start to prepare the first horse for riding. Today I took Liebe first and then Et Voila. Liebe has the intermediaire II tomorrow so we trained some movements out of the test. When I rode the 2 horses my groom took Sini and Donnelly for a hand walk. After Et Voila we had lunch and so had the horses too. Sini's turn was after lunch and the last but not least was Donnelly. Again when I rode the 2 my groom took the other 2 out.
Tomorrow is going to be different. Liebe has a test and the other ones I'm going to train with Hubertus. He comes to help me for 4 days. The intermediaire II begins at 15:30 and Liebe is the third horse.

Vet check

Today in the afternoon was the vet check. All 3 horses ( Sini Spirit, Donnelly and Liebe) passed it :) so no worries about that anymore. Only Donnelly is not drinking very well and is still week so I could do only a short warm up with him. Sini Spirit feels good. I got to ride him on the main arena. There is a lot to see because the show ground is not completely ready yet. They are still bringing flowers to the arenas, cutting the grass and cleaning the judge towers. That's good training for Sini to get to know everything before the first test.
The weather is nice, at night the temperature gets near +0 and during the day +20!

The first day

This morning we had here +2 degrees and I thought in Germany is cold! It was freezing outside and the windows from our car were frozen. We drive about 5 minutes from our hotel to the stables. Me and my groom went there at half past seven to feed the horses. They all looked hungry. While the horses were eating we reorganized out tack box. It was so full of stuff that we barely fit in. About 9:30 I started to ride. My plan today was to stretch the horses and make them loose after the long trip. Sini Spirit and Heimliche Liebe were fresh and Et Voila also started the warm up with bucking around the arena. Only Donnelly felt still tired and I didn't ride him too long.
After riding we wanted to find a place to eat lunch. The problem was that everything was closed, it was siesta.
Later in the afternoon I took Sini and Liebe out for a walk and my groom handwalked Donnelly and Et Voila. Tomorrow ist the vet check and before that I'm going to ride the horses.

Flight to Spain

I'm on my way to Spain. I'm in Düsseldorf at the airport waiting for my plane. I have to change the plane once in Madrid and then I will fly to Jerez. From there I'm going to rent a car and then drive to Vejer de la Frontera where the show ground is.
The horses arrived there yesterday. Donnelly had stomachache last night but everything seems to be ok now. My groom has been walking with the horses and I will do light warm up later after I have arrived.

Sunshine tour - the journey begins

Yesterday was a busy day. We put everything what we'll need for the hole trip together and packed all our stuff for horses, feed and hay into the lorry. There was a lot of stuff because I'm taking 4 horses with me: Sini Spirit, Donnelly, Heimliche Liebe and Equestricons Et Voila. The horses and my groom will drive with Johannsmann to Spain to Sunshine Tour.
Early this morning, 3 a.m. we made the horses ready for the transport. We load the horses and the lorry left 3.45 a.m from our stables. I need to stay for few more days at home and ride because Hubertus will not be there over the weekend and our other bereiter can't work because of the broken arm. I will fly afterwards to Spain. The lorry drove first to Aachen where they took one more horse with them and continued towards France. The first night they will spent near Lyon so the horses can sleep in a stall. So far everything went well.

Drachten

We arrived to the show ground after 5 hours drive in the storm. The wind was really strong and I was able to drive only 60 or 70km/h. There was a big surprise waiting for us: only 2 boxes for my 3 horses. I took Donnelly und Heimliche Liebe with me for training. I took almost an hour to organize one box more and in that time there were other trailers and lorries which were parked too close to our lorry that we could't take our horses out. All dressage riders had to come on the same time because they were not aloud to come on Wednesday because of the weather. That's why there were totally chaos also during the vet check. So we didn't have the best start for our show. After vet check I trained with all my horses. Sini felt fine and relaxed.

On Friday morning I took Sini out for a walk inside the main arena. At first he was a bit spooky but settled down quite well. The Gran Prix was in the evening. Sini was good in the warm up but just before we went my groom noticed blood in Sini's mouth. We wiped it away but unfortunately Sini's mouth got a little pink again during the test and the judges had to disqualify me. Such a bad luck! I'm totally disappointed because this was a really important show for us. Now there's even less shows where I can get the points for Olympic games. Now I need to sleep over one night and then we have to start to make new plans for next 2 months.

The next big show for me and Sini Spirit is coming. We are going to compete in Drachten, Netherlands in this coming weekend. Sini feels good and I think we are ready to show again for a big publikum. Our last show in Jöllenbeck in November brougt us lot of self-confidence. I'm excited and can't wait our journey to begin in 2 days!

Viimeistelyt käynnissä

Moikka!

Tulevana viikonloppuna 6.-8.1. starttaan Sini Spiritin kanssa Hollannin Drachtenissa. Saa nähdä miten päästään perille, sillä tänne Saksaan ja myös Hollantiin on luvattu kovia myrskyjä. Vet check on torstaina iltapäivällä, joten matkan päälle aiomme lähteä torstaina aamusta aikaisin. Tähän mennessä viimeistelyt Sinin kanssa ovat sujuneet hyvin. Hieman jo jännittää sillä edellisistä suurista kilpailuistamme on jo aikaa ja tulos oli mikä oli. Kuitenkin marraskuun kilpailumme Jöllenbeckissä on tuonut molemmille itseluottamusta ja hyvillä mielin ollaan kisoihin lähdössä!